Traveling Business Class — both foreign and domestic — on this past trip was a real eye opener. It does indeed make air travel a very different experience — quieter, more comfortable, significantly more pleasant. There’s more space for your body, and more comfortable ways to arrange said space. You are plied with food and drink of a higher quality, and more frequently, and with much more attention and politeness. Heck, the headphones even had noise suppressors on them.
And that was Business Class. First Class? Even more posh.
And while it doesn’t change the entire off-the-plane experience, it does help. Arriving at Heathrow yesterday morning, I got to go down a much shorter line to check in. And I got to hang out in the Red Carpet Room lounge. And at O’Hare I got to board the plane first. If I’d had baggage to check, at Heathrow it would have been offloaded first.
It made the flying part of the trip go from a C- (or worse) to an A-. It makes that much difference.
Now I’m not sure if I’m full of egalitarian fury — why can’t everyone fly like that? — or just envy of those for whom this is the only class they fly. Certainly I’m resolved that my next flight overseas will be done the same, though it was “pricy” in frequent flier miles. But, damn, it’s worth it.
(N.B. It was also very convenient — especially on return through O’Hare — that I had no checked bags. Saved me a world of trouble and time.)